Khartoum Page #5

There's vanity for you.

I seem to have suffered

from the illusion...

that I have a monopoly on God.

It's the failure.

There are so many things

I'm not afraid of...

but... to fail...

You haven't failed, sir.

Who else could have found out

the Mahdi's intentions?

If I'd known

about this in London...

would I have recommended

against sending an army?

How could any British government

survive a massacre like this...

without making

some attempt to forestall it?

Yes. Get off a telegram

to Cairo, immediately.

If the government

moves on this, they can...

Sir.

The telegraph's been cut.

- Where?

- Below Metemmah.

- When?

- Today.

Sir, Mohammed al Khalia

attacked Berber at dawn.

Your friend

Sheikh Ali lbrahim...

escaped downriver

at 10:
00 this morning...

and since then

there's been no message.

We presume the city's fallen.

If so, the Nile is closed.

The evacuation.

We must get these people...

Sir, there isn't going

to be any evacuation.

If they hold Berber,

they've closed the Nile.

Sweet Jesus.

There is no alternative.

Gladstone must send an army.

If they've closed the Nile

at Berber...

we can get messengers across

the desert as far as Debba.

The telegraph

must be working there.

Yes. They can't

have got that far.

Call your staff together,

Stewart.

We must check the food supplies.

We'll manage till help comes.

I've been an engineer

all my days.

If I can't fortify a city with

rivers on two sides of it...

I should be broken to the ranks.

- Go on.

- Sir.

Save Gordon.

Prime Minister, how many more

of these debates...

can we survive?

We must do something.

If Gordon can get messengers

out of Khartoum...

he can get himself out.

Prime Minister, please.

Who is the government,

Gordon or I?

I've been talking to Wolseley.

He can send a small detachment

into the Sudan.

He promises

no further than Debba.

I'll make no compromises

with this man, Granville.

I've distrusted him always,

I distrust him now.

A small detachment, for

communication purposes only.

A gesture.

We are in trouble!

Well, a small detachment.

But I will not

turn this government...

to overseas adventure.

Not for all the Gordons,

the sentimentalists...

the plots, the intrigues.

Save Gordon.

Now then, we are here.

You see, here's the city wall

right there...

with your guns

emplaced all along.

And this is the ditch

we're digging...

connecting the white Nile

to the blue Nile.

Now, when it's flooded, the city

will become an island...

and if the Mahdi

crosses the river...

and attacks from out here,

the ditch will stop any charge.

But you must have

your guns emplaced...

so that their fields

of fire overlap...

then if one gun

is knocked out...

the next will still cover

the same field.

- Do you understand?

- I understand, Gordon Pasha.

I sincerely hope so, Major.

Off you go.

I've been wondering, sir.

The Nile's aflood at the moment.

What happens when it falls

and our ditch goes dry?

That won't be till next winter.

If they haven't

sent an army by then...

we'll all be dead of old age.

I don't think the Mahdi's

waiting for that.

I just saw them putting up his

personal tents over the river.

He's moving up.

Well, I could have the ditch

flooded in a few days.

Good. I don't think

he'll attack for a while.

He'll try to tighten

the siege first, weaken us.

I want you to help me plan

a giant-sized raiding party.

I want to take it upcountry

between the rivers...

and bring back

every head of cattle...

every measure of wheat

for a hundred miles.

It might have to last us

quite a while.

Sounds like a dangerous job,

so I better do it.

It's in the orders.

Forget the orders.

Finish your ditch.

Flood it when you're ready.

Meanwhile,

let me have a little fun.

Stewart Pasha.

Gordon Pasha

is ten miles from the city...

with a great convoy

of grain and cattle.

A spy brings news the Mahdi

is attacking him at dawn.

They're out there somewhere.

We'll make a stand

and hold them...

while you take all the cattle

and grain into Khartoum.

If we divide,

they'll have to divide.

You take all the cavalry

with you...

but don't let them turn you.

You must get the convoy

into Khartoum.

- Good luck to you.

- Sir!

Hurry!

You, up the pace. Come on!

Now then, we can hold them here

while the convoy gets away.

But keep your men low.

Don't give them a target.

Dismount yourselves.

Get your horses down, too.

Let them charge through us.

Once they've passed us, we'll

have them against the light.

Well, good luck then.

Be quick.

Re-form!

Re-form and prepare to fire!

They're coming out

of the light this time.

Stand fast.

Prepare to fire.

Fire!

Move forward!

Ready... charge!

They'll come at us again

from the dark now.

Take cover!

Re-form!

Nearly three hundred dead.

How much of the convoy

did we lose?

None. You must have brought in

all the loose grain and beef...

this side of Abyssinia.

It'll have to last us

till relief comes.

This came yesterday

via Cairo and Kitchener.

- I've read it.

- Who's Kitchener?

He's a major who's arrived

at Debba with an army.

Precisely twenty men.

"You exaggerate

the danger, sir.

"Suspicion still exists, sir...

"that you've created

a situation...

"to fit your own personal

inclinations.

"Leave Khartoum at once, sir.

"This is you last,

final, ultimate order."

Obey the order, General.

Go to London. Explain to them.

You'll come back with an army.

I'll come back with an army.

They wouldn't listen to me.

If they did,

they wouldn't believe me.

If they believed me,

they'd keep me in England...

if they had to lock me up

in the tower of London.

You're the one to go.

They'd believe you

if I stayed here as a hostage.

They'd believe you

because they must!

I'll give you Khaleel.

He knows the route through

the desert and the wells.

We've enough food here now

to hold out for months.

The Nile's too high

for the Mahdi to attack.

You must do it.

Yes, sir.

Let's get back.

Kitchener.

I'll take cholera, dysentery,

sunstroke, fleas in my bed...

Arabs in my hair,

but I cannot take politicians.

I wish you well, by heaven...

but I don't envy you

what you're up against.

Your man better stay with us

until you get back.

Colonel Stewart, sir.

Get out of the way!

Say nothing, sir.

Your carriage is there, sir.

Clear the way, please.

Say nothing.

Sir.

I wasn't prepared

for all this excitement.

The prime minister's

waiting for you.

I want you to know

before you see him...

that he missed

a vote of censure...

in the House of Commons

yesterday by only a few votes.

I want you to know also that

I'm on General Gordon's side.

You mean there's hope, sir?

I mean nothing of the sort.

Let's put all that aside.

There's just one thing

that matters.

Did Gordon or did he not receive

a direct order to return?

He did.

Could Gordon or could he not be

standing there in front of me?

He could.

Then, Colonel Stewart...

does your presence here

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